Dirt Cake
by dark insanity 13
Summary: With a name like that, messes are bound to happen.


Dirt Cake

"So…what's this stuff called again?"

Orihime smiled brightly at her husband's sceptical look, fighting a giggle. She was perfectly aware that her friends (minus a choice few) didn't have the same strange taste buds as her and the ability to stomach her strange concoctions, and they often tried to be nice about it. She knew they meant no harm by it. That didn't stop her from trying to get them to try her food anyway, and Ichigo was her constant guinea pig. He could survive it anyway, and she suspected that he was used to it by now.

"It's called a dirt cake, Ichigo-kun," she replied. "And before you ask, no, it's not actually made of dirt. The topping just looks like it. I thought it would be a fun thing to try. Apparently it's very popular in America."

The Vizard continued to look at the food sceptically, but he took his fork and shovelled a bit off the top. Orihime watched expectantly as he stuck it in his mouth cautiously. Her heart fluttered when his eyes lit up.

"This is good!" he quipped with the food still in his mouth. Without missing a beat he took a bigger scoop and shoved it in his mouth. "Mmm…"

The healer giggled at the contented expression on his face.

"I knew you would like it. The recipe originally called for vanilla pudding, but I experimented a little and changed it to chocolate on the inside," she chirped.

"I love chocolate…" Ichigo hummed, again forgetting his manners and speaking with his mouth full.

Orihime laughed again, and it made Ichigo want to laugh himself. Her laughs and smiles were so contagious.

"I know you do."

A playful smirk twitched at Ichigo's lips.

"Oh, but not quite as much as you do, Hime," he murmured, pushing the dessert aside to lean over to her side of the round table.

She flushed and averted her gaze shyly at his tone of voice and what he was implying.

"I-I don't…" she tried to say, but the proximity of her husband's face as well as his husky voice made her unable to counter.

"Really? Then explain why you always love licking it off my–"

His sentence was interrupted by a handful of dessert being flung in his face. It made an audible _splat_ and some flecks landed on Orihime's face. The two blinked in confusion before Ichigo scowled and turned to the perpetrator (or perpetrators).

Beside them, two young toddlers, a boy and a girl, laughed while attempting to look innocent. They sat in child-seats to reach the table, and the small trays used for food in front of them were covered in the cake.

Ichigo frowned; the twins had just entered the so-called "terrible twos" within the last month, and their need to create trouble had indeed risen exponentially. It was a struggle for him and their mother to keep them behaving properly, but Orihime had trouble reprimanding them because she thought their antics were more cute than annoying.

"I know either one of you or both of you were the culprit, so don't try looking innocent," he growled.

"Ichigo-kun, they're only two; they probably don't understand what you're saying," Orihime reasoned, but she was smiling. It was adorable how Ichigo interacted with the twins.

Her husband cast an unimpressed look at her.

"Oh, they know what I'm saying all right, they just pretend they don't so I look stupid," he replied indignantly. Wiping the dessert off his face, he turned back to the twins with a devilish grin. "Well I'm not going to stand for it!"

Orihime said nothing, but her eyebrow quirked up in amusement. Despite the wording, Ichigo's playful tone of voice said he meant no harm by his words.

"So as revenge…tickle attacks for the both of you!"

The toddlers squealed in a mixture of delight and fear, laughing as they half-heartedly attempted to scramble out of their kiddie-chairs before their father nabbed them for an onslaught of tickles. Their efforts were in vain as Ichigo spun the seats around and tickled their sides. Their mother could only grin as they shrieked hysterically, throwing more bits of cake at Ichigo in their fits of laughter.

"He's more like Isshin-san than he thinks," she mused. "But it makes him a good father."

Needless to say, there were baths to be had by the time they were finished.

Dark: sorry I'm so late with this **copper**! I tried to get something earlier, but life just happened D: it's not terribly fantastic, but I hope you at least think it's cute.

Anyway, this is a belated birthday present for copperheadfightingninja. I would have had something sooner, but the brick of inspiration never hit me until I begged her for a prompt (despite her insistence that I didn't need to do anything and it was the thought that counted) a few days after her birthday.

The kids are twins, because I like the idea of Ichigo and Orihime having twins (one boy, one girl), and it would be more adorable for Ichigo to be playing with two small kids.

Tickle attacks are fun, but very evil things. My dad always threatened my brother and I with them when we were being annoying (or he wanted us to do chores). They were very effective threats XP.


End file.
